Education, the most profitable investment

The family, and above all women, as a factor of change for the achievement of sustainable development goals, in particular the elimination world hunger. Linda Ghisoni, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, spoke on this topic during the webinar "Food for Life: the role of women in promoting integral human development" on Monday, May 17.

The webinar was the first in a series organized by the Secretariat of State, the Holy See's Permanent Mission to FAO, IFAD and WFP, the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development and the COVID-19 Vatican Commission, which will involve a cycle of three seminars that will address the theme "Food for Life, Food Justice, Food for All".

With such ambitious goals, it is necessary to invest in the education of emerging generations, and it is to this end that the Undersecretary insisted in her contribution that families, and women in particular, must be allowed to be promoters of personal formation and maturation and of integral human growth for their children. It is the family, Pope Francis reminds us, that is the place of patient and persevering educational commitment that values those attitudes and behaviours that create new mindsets and a new culture regarding respect for the environment and, therefore, the exploitation of its resources (cf. Amoris Laetitia, nos. 264-265). The webinar series is intended to be the Holy See's contribution to the preparation of the United Nations’ Food Systems Summit, and in particular to the pre-Summit to be held in Rome from July 19 to 21.

The webinar will thus focus on the levers of change identified by the aforementioned Summit, especially women, finance, human rights and innovations. The three online meetings will be an exchange of experiences aimed at sharing the Holy See's narrative on food justice and post-Covid recovery and will be recorded as independent dialogues within the framework of the United Nations Food Systems Dialogue.